Lockout for automatic starters



June 5, 1923. 11,457,917

R. VARLEY LOCKOUT FOR AUTOMATIC STARTERS Filed Dc. 26, 1919 WITNESS:

r I I [Q] MNVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS Patented June 5, 1923.

are. sa er RICHARD VARLEY, OF ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB TO VABLEY DUPLEX MAGNET COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LOCKOUT FOR AUTOMATIC STARTERS.

Original application filed September 18, 1919, Serial No. 324,450. Divided and this application filed December 26, 1919.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD VARLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Englewood, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lockouts for Automatic Starters, of which the tollowing is a full, clear, and exact descriptlon.

This application is divisional of my co- 0 pending application Serial Number 32%,450,

filed September 18, 1919. v

An object of my invention is to provide a simple and reliable device which will operate automatically to prevent the actuation of the self starter of an automobile engine while the engine is running, and thus eliminate the possibility of damaging the starter. Very many of the starter constructions in common use are liable to be injured in one wayor another it they are actuated while the engine is running. Perhaps the type most susceptible to injury are those in which a starter pinion is shittable into and out of engagement with a co-operative gear, such as a gear on the fly wheel ot the engine. If the engine does not make sutlicient noise to apprise the operator with certainty that it is running there is always the danger that he will actuate the starter under. the mistaken belief that the engine is not running, with the resultant liability of stripping the teeth on the pinion, or otherwise injuring the mechanism.

In accordance with my invention I provide an actuating memberoperatively connected to an enginedriven shaft and arranged to be moved in the proper direction by the shaft and actuate a detent against its bias into locking relation to the manually operated starter lever. Usually this lever will serve to shift the starter-"pinion and will be locked by the detent in the position in which the pinion is out otengagement with its co-operating gear wheel.

I shall now describe the illustrated embodiment of my invention and shall thereafter point out my invention in claims.

Fig. 1 is a plan of the automatic lock-out mechanism with a portion oi the starter mechanism shown in elevation in operative relation thereto;

Fig. 2- is a sectional elevation of the automatic loolcout mechanism. I

In the construction shown the starter pin- Serial No. 347,411.

ion 1 is splined to the shaft 2 of the starter motor 3 and is shittable into and out of engagement with the gear teeth on the flywheel lby a reciprocable rod or lever 5. This rod has proper operative connection with the pinion 1 to effect the shifting movement, and for the purpose of illustration it is shown as provided with a depending fork or stirrup 6 which straddles a grooved collar on the end of the pinion 1. One end of the rod 5 is operatively connected to a suitable bell crank 7 shown as pivoted on the under side of the foot-board ot the vehicle and provided with an operating extension through the foot-board terminating in a pedal 8. The other end of the rod 5 is pivotally connected to a pivoted member 9 which I term the locking member. and which carries a knife contact 10 co-operative with thevtwo stationary starter contacts 11. A retractile spring 12 tends to hold the above described parts in the position shown with the pinion out of engagement with the gear teeth on the fly-wheel.) To look the member 9 and consequently the entire starter mechanism in the position shown when the engine is running, suitable automatically operated detent mechanism is provided which will now be described.

'In the form shown this mechanism is enclosed in a-suitable housing 13 provided with a horizontal wall or platform 14 on which the member 9 is pivoted. The member 9 is provided with an extension 9 beyond-the pivot and co-operative with this extension is a detent 15 which is also pivoted in a suitable bearing in the wall 14 and which is provided with a nose arranged to be moved into and out of the path of the extension 9 as the detent 15 is rotated on its pivot. A retractile spring 16 tends to hold the detent 15 against a stop 15 with the nose out of the path of the extension 9. v

To actuate the detent '15 against its bias into the path of the extension 9 suitable transmitting means are provided having operative connection with an engine-driven shaft 17. For the purpose of illustration I have chosen atransmission device of the type shown and described in my (Jo-pending application. Serial No. 314,643, although it will be understood that any suitable mechanism actuated by the shaft 17 may be employed for this purpose.

In the illustrated construction the primary member of the transmission comprises an annular cup-shaped member 18 secured aX ially upon the shaft v 17 immediatelyabove a suitable anti-friction bearing forthe shaft 17 formed in the wall 14. "The secondary member 19 rests on top of the primary memher and is an annulus providedat its inner edge/With a hub portionwhich loosely surmember, and therefore is free toturn thererounds the center portion ofthe primary on. '-A sui.table cover 20 encloses'the device.

The primary me'mber18 :is provided with a plurality of concentric [flanges 18% intermediate ofwhich' are similar depending flanges 19 on'the secondary member. The device is partially filled withoil or other 'l'iquid ivhich servesto couple'the twomembers and transmit-a torque to the secondary member. The secondary member carries an abutment-"21 in position toengage the end of the pivoted detent 15:0pposite the nose portion. Since theshaft 1'Zis. driven in a clockwise direction as viewed inlTig. 1, it follows that the drag'of the primary member upon the secondary member will cause the latter to rotate in a clockwise directionwhen 'the engineis running, and the abutment 21 and means mechanically connecting shaft to the lock-outandoperative'by any running.

will thereby actuate the detent 15 against the tension of the spring 16-and move the nose-down into the'path ofthe extension 9 The starter-mechanismasthereby locked against actuation so long as the engine is It is obvious" that various modifications may be made in theconstruction shown 1n "the-drawings and above particularly described within invention.

Iclaim: I

1. For an internal-combustion engine including an automatic starter, an operating lever for the starter, a look-out for" the lever the principle and scope of .movable into and out of the path of the lever,

ashaft connected to be rotated by the engine, the

rotation thereof to shift the look-out to locking position.

movable into and out'of the pathof the lever and having a bias to non-locking position, a rotatable part angularly movable b'ytherotation of the engine, and an abutment on the rotatable part adapted'to engage and actuate the look-out against its bias.

4. For an internal combustion engine including an automatic starter, an operating lever for the starter, a look-out for the lever movable into and out of the path of the lever and having a bias to non-locking position, an engine driven shaft, a vrotative primary .membercarried' by the shaft, and a ro-tative' secondary member arranged to have a drag imparted to it bythe primary member and 'operatively connected to the lock-out to move the same into the path of the lever;

5. For an Iinternal'combustion engine, in

combination with a shiftable starter pinion and its cooperating gear, a reciprocating lever "operative to shift the pinion, a detent operative to engage and lock the lever with the pinion in disengaged p ositiomand h'aving a bias to non-locking position, a shaft connected tov be rotated by the engine, and a movable actuating device for the detent having mechanical"connection with the shaft and movable by any rotation thereof to actuatethe detent against its bias. I

6. For an internal combustion engine, in

combination witha shiftable starter pinion and its cooperating gear, a reciprocating lever operative to shift the pinion,resilient r'etractile means-tending to hold the lever in the disengaged position of the pinion, a pivoted locking member operatively connected at one end to the lever, a pivoted de tent movable into and-out of'the path of the looking member-,"resilient retractile means for the detent,an engine driven shaft, and a movable actuating device for the detent having mechanical connection with the shaft I and movable any rotation thereof to actuate the detent into the path of the locking member.

7. For an internal combustion engine, in combination with a shiftable starter pinion and its cooperatin gear, a reciprocating lever operative to-si'ift the pinion, resilient retractile meanstending to hold the lever in the disengaged position of the pinion, a pivoted locking member operatively "connected at one end to the lever, a pivoted detent movable into and out of the path of,

the locking member, resilient retractile means for the detent, an engine driven shaft,a rotative primary member carried by the shaft, and a rotative secondary member arranged to have a drag imparted to it by the primary member and operatively connected to the detent to move the detent into the path of the locking member; A f

7 In witness whereof, I hereunto-subscribe my signature.

i Brennan Mater. 

